Skellig Rangers grind out hard-fought victory

Skellig Rangers made it three wins from three in the County League Division 2 when they dug out a narrow one point win in a tough encounter on a rain-sodden pitch in Gneeveguilla on Saturday evening. The away side started the brightest and were first on the scoreboard when Micheál O' Sullivan collected a breaking ball and slotted over from close range. Slippery conditions were proving difficult for both sides and scores were hard to come by. However, with about 10 minutes gone, a long ball was driven into the Gneeveguilla square by Mike Keating which was flicked on by Martin O' Sullivan to make it 0-2 to 0-0 in favour of the Portmagee men. Gneeveguilla eventually began to make their stamp on the game but were constantly thwarted by tight defence, in particular from Kevin Martin and Brian Murphy. The away side then went 3 points up when Steven O' Sullivan bursted from midfield and sailed a long range point between the posts. Portmagee's defence was eventually breached midway through the half when DJ O' Connor pointed to reduce the deficit to 2 points. Shortly after Ronan McAullife kicked over a point from a narrow angle to make it 0-3 to 0-2 in favour of the Portmagee men going in at half time.

The second half got underway with a point from Micheal O' Sullivan after he was played through by Ciaran Keating following a surging run. Portmagee's defence was tested even further in this half and they stood up to the challenge with Bernard Walsh and Brian O' Sullivan in particular keeping Gneeveguilla's forwards at bay. Liam Murphy, however, brought it back down to one point between the sides again when he slotted over early in the second half. Breaks were always going to be vital and Skellig Rangers were out on top in this area with Steven O' Sullivan and his midfield partner and namesake Aidan doing well to gather primary possession for their team. Mike Keating surged forward from wing back to kick a majestic point from close to the sideline and this gave Skellig the cushion they needed.Brian Hickey then slotted a free from 21 yards after Ciaran Keating was fouled. However, the home side weren't going to give up the fight and kicked two more points from Liam Murphy to reduce the gap on the scoreboard to just one single point. Their late fightback was to fade though as they had two men sent off late on. Skellig Rangers pulled through victorious on a full time scoreline of 0-6 to 0-5 after a real team performance right through from Number 1 to the subs used. The team had a good travelling support on the evening which was good to see.